In My Father's Shadow (5 page)

Jamie scooted his desk closer and rested his forearms
on her desk, smirk still firmly plastered to his face. “You
honestly want him taking her to the Fall Festival Dance?
Honestly?”

She narrowed her eyes, darkness overcoming her face.
“I don’t care who he takes, actually.”

Jamie snorted a laugh. “Liar.”

She shoved his arms off her desk and huffed, turning
her back on him in a haughty manner. “You’re so full of it,
James.”

He moved his desk back to its proper place, knowing
smile of his face. “He doesn’t want to take her. He’s got it bad
for someone else.”

She glanced over her shoulder and raised a
questioning brow. “He told me he doesn’t want any kind of
relationship right now. He said he just wants to deal with school
and the band.”

“Mm hmm,” he said as the teacher walked in the
room.

***

Disappointment stabbed his heart as he watched Ally
go, her ponytail bobbing and weaving behind her. She’d actually
seemed like her old self today; totally comfortable in his
presence. He had thought that the talk they’d had about the kiss
had made things more comfortable – broken some silent sort of
tension that had been hanging between them since that day- but
obviously something was still on her mind.

“Hey, Cole,” Jennifer said as she skidded to a halt
next to him and weaseled her arm in his. “Who are you taking to the
Fall Festival dance this year?”

He shrugged. “Haven’t thought about it,” he said
absently, wondering if Ally would be going and who would be her
escort. Sometimes, they’d all attend school functions together – as
a group – but dances were always sort of iffy. It usually depended
on who had a date. And last year he’d taken Jennifer.

“You should go,” Jennifer persisted. “We can go
again, if you want.”

“I don’t know.” He looked down at her smiling,
hopeful face. “Really, I don’t know if I’m going to go. I have get
to class, okay? Talk to you later.”

He shook his arm free and hurried off to his class.
He nodded a greeting to a couple acquaintances before plopping in
his chair and opening his book, but he didn’t see words. All he
could see were brilliant blue eyes.

“
Where’s your dad?” Ally asked, feet dangling over
the edge of the pool.

“
He’s out with Stacy,” Cole responded propping his
hands behind him and lifting his face to the sun.

“
Really? They’ve been seeing each other for awhile
now, huh?”

He shrugged. “Sure. He’s been dating her for awhile.
I guess he used to date her when he was our age but for some
reason, they broke it off. But, you know my dad.”

Ally took a drink from her water bottle. “Yeah. But
maybe this time will be different. I mean, he’s just worried that
any girl he dates is going to treat you poorly.”

“
I know,” he sighed. “I wish he’d worry about
himself once in awhile.”

She placed a warm hand on his thigh. “He’s always
going to worry about you first, Cole.”

He straightened with a sigh and wrapped an arm around
her shoulders. “I know, Al, and I’m always going to worry about
you.”

She peered up at him, her brow crinkled in confusion.
He smiled, evil flashing in his eyes. He swept her into the pool,
causing her to scream.

She surfaced and pushed her soaking hair off her face
while he sat on the edge, holding his stomach as he laughed. “You
are so dead, Cole Nathan,” she declared. She lifted a hand. “Help
me out.”

He shook his head. “Not going to fall for it, Al. How
stupid do you think I am?”

She stuck out her bottom lip and bowed her head in a
pout. He jumped in behind her, splashing water all over her back.
She turned around and rested her arms on the edge of the pool as
she waited for him to break the surface. It was early June and not
terribly warm yet but the pool was heated and the water felt
nice.

Cole suddenly appeared in from of her and spit water
on her face.

“
Cole, you are such a jerk,” she shouted, laughing
and swiping at her face. “Who are you going to pick on when I leave
for camp this weekend?”

He moved closer and pushed a clump of her wet hair
behind her ear. “I’ll figure something out.”

Their faces were so close and he thought he could see
the blood pulsing through the veins in her neck. Her eyes were
bright blue and they captivated him. His finger trailed down her
cheek and climbed to the back of her neck. He pulled her head
slowly closer and watched, fascinated, as her eyes closed and her
bottom lip trembled. He brushed his lips softly over hers as she
moved her hands up his bare chest and locked them behind his neck.
He eased her closer and pressed his lips to hers again, applying
more pressure. He eagerly deepened the kiss as she moved closer,
pressing her body flush with his. He massaged her lips tenderly as
he trailed his hands down her back. His fingers tangled with the
strings to her bikini and gave him a jolt as if they were sizzling
with electricity. He pulled back, his eyes wide with fright.

“
Cole?”

“
Damn it, Al, I’m sorry,” he said as he pushed his
wet bangs out of his face. He jumped up on the edge, water running
down his body like a waterfall, and climbed out of the pool. He
grabbed the nearest towel and rubbed vigorously at his
hair.

“
Cole,” she said behind him. “What was that all
about?”

He turned slowly, a little scared and ashamed to face
her. She was toweling off, confused eyes trained on him. He sighed
and rubbed his sopping hair again. “I don’t know, Al, but it can’t
happen again. It just can’t.”

Her eyes widened momentarily as she wrapped the towel
around her body and secured it. She nodded with a frown, her eyes
unable to meet his. “Okay.”

He padded across the wet concrete, his guilty heart
breaking at the hurt and pain on her face. He fumbled for her hand
and gently tugged her into his chest then wrapped his arms around
her. He kissed the top of her head before resting his cheek on top
of it. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take you home.”

“
Sure,” she said, in a dead tone. “Whenever you
are.”

“Cole,” someone whispered behind him, busting him out
of his daydreams. He glanced over his shoulder and found Mark
Spencer waggling a pencil in his face. “You got an extra pencil,
man? I just broke mine.”

***

“Something’s off with Ally,” Cole announced later
that night to his friends as they gathered in Cole and RJ’s room.
“Any ideas?”

Jamie looked up from Cole’s computer to shrug. “She
hasn’t mentioned anything to me.”

RJ closed his Calculus book and grinned. “Maybe she’s
got a crush on someone or something.” He caught Jamie’s eye and his
grin widened. Jamie, stifling a smile, ducked over the
keyboard.

Cole, who’d been lying on his bed tossing a baseball
in the air and catching it bare-handed, sat up suddenly. He tossed
the ball at RJ who caught it easily. “I bet you’re right. She
wouldn’t tell us because she’d be afraid we’d tease her.”

“Well, we would,” RJ said as if stating a widely
known fact. “I mean, seriously.”

“I wonder who it is,” Cole said, gesturing to RJ to
throw the ball back. “Do you think she’s told Jeana?”

Jamie scoffed. “I highly doubt it. Those two are
barely on speaking terms.”

“Yeah,” Cole agreed, his face screwed up in
concentration. “And she’d tell us before she’d tell Alec or Ren.”
He sighed heavily as a sympathetic smile crept across his lips. “I
feel bad for her. She doesn’t hang out with anyone else but us and
she can’t even tell us she has a crush on someone.”

“I know,” RJ concurred. “She can’t sit around with
giggly friends and talk about who they think is hot and all that
stuff. If she tried that with us, we’d probably puke.” He clutched
his stomach as if the mere thought made him queasy.

“Hmm,” Jamie said as he pointed at the computer
monitor. He’d logged into Cole and RJ’s email account for their
band and was grinning at one of their emails. “Maybe it’s
Parker.”

“She does sort of make those goo-goo eyes at him,” RJ
added, frowning so hard, deep grooves developed on his
forehead.

“I accused her of liking him awhile back and she got
all embarrassed,” Cole said, shaking his head. “I don’t think she
likes him.”

“We’ll just have to see how she acts around him this
weekend,” RJ concluded, snatching the baseball from Cole’s
hands.

Cole bit his lip and nodded. Parker was an all right
person, but it made his stomach roll when he thought about Ally
with that guy – maybe holding his hand or kissing him.

“You okay, man? You look like you’re about to hurl,”
Jamie asked, studying Cole’s face carefully.

“I’m fine.” He waved them off and dug a duffel bag
out of the closet while Jamie exchanged a glance with RJ behind his
back. “You guys all packed for this weekend?”

“Yeah,” RJ said, smirk playing around on his lips. He
shot Jamie a sly look as Cole dug some jeans and socks out of his
dresser. “Want to go over to the gym and check out Ally’s practice?
We can see if Parker’s hanging out.”

Cole shrugged indifferently as he tossed the clothes
into the bag but inside, his heart was quivering. He furrowed his
brow at Jamie in an attempt to take the attention off of him. “How
come you’re not at football practice?”

“Coach is at a funeral. No practice tomorrow either,”
Jamie said, shutting down the computer. “Come on – I want to see if
softball camp hampered my cousin’s volleyball game.”

They wandered over to the gym and entered as quietly
as possible. They climbed on the bleachers where a few other
students were congregating and spotted Ally at once. She was
wearing gray sweat shorts and what looked like one of Cole’s old
band t-shirts, tied in a knot in the back to keep it from falling
to her knees. Her dark hair was held in a pony tail that swung back
and forth when she ran. Even though she wore navy knee pads, he
still winced when she dropped to her knees and hit the ball so
hard; it nearly took off another girl’s head.

“That had to hurt,” he muttered.

Jamie shrugged, grinning at his cousin’s tenacity.
“That’s why they wear knee pads.”

“I don’t see Parker anywhere,” RJ said, scanning the
bleachers and winking at a sophomore.

“Call him and ask him where he is if you want to know
so badly,” Cole suggested, a little irritated. He leaned back and
rested his elbows on the bleachers behind him.

RJ snorted as a hint of red touched his cheeks.
“Yeah, right. Want me to go all girly and ask him if he likes her?”
RJ cleared his throat and raised his voice a couple octaves. “Heya
Parker! Do you like Ally? Because I like heard that you like
did.”

Jamie and Cole chuckled and caught the attention of a
couple girls on the bottom bleacher. Jamie smiled and waved at them
and they smiled back shyly before turning their heads.

The coach blew her whistle and the girls immediately
stopped playing. “All right girls - that’s enough for tonight. Hit
the showers and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Ally,” a short brunette called out. “Your boys are
here.”

Ally lifted her eyes and stifled a grin when she
spotted them climbing down the bleachers. She covered her face with
a towel under the pretence of wiping the sweat, and allowed her
smile a chance to stretch before she tucked it away again.

“What are you guys doing here, scouting out prom
dates?” she asked, jutting out a hip and resting a fist on it.

Cole grinned, taking in her tough girl stance, and
tugged on her pony tail. “Nope, but I think Jamie wants to ask your
coach.”

Jamie nodded. “She’s hot!”

Ally groaned, wadded up her towel and hurled it at
him. “Please stop fantasizing about my coach.”

RJ picked up a volleyball, bounced it three times,
and then shot it at the hoop. He missed by a mile.

“You suck,” Ally laughed as he chased after the ball
and threw it at her head. But all her years playing softball honed
her athletic skills and she caught it easily, and flashed him a
haughty look. She was standing just short of the three point range
so she bounced it twice, jumped up, and launched it. They all
watched as it fell effortlessly through the net. “Finesse, Richie
Junior,” she said with a smirk.

“Whatever,” he said, blushing. She loped over to grab
the ball and then returned to kiss him on the cheek.

“I can’t play a chord anywhere near as good as you
can,” she whispered, though it was still loud enough for Cole to
hear. RJ smiled and gave her a wink. “I have to get in the shower.
Will you guys wait for me here?”

Cole caught her gaze and held it, unable to look
away. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly and he knew he was
more than a little relieved that Parker hadn’t attended her
practice. “Yeah, sure – we’ll wait,” he said and she smiled. When
his heart gave a peculiar little shudder, he knew he was in
trouble.

Chapter Five

“This really sucks,” Jamie muttered, slowing the car
as the torrential rainfall created a blanket of water on the
windshield. He scrunched over the steering wheel, squinting as
though he’d be able to see clearly through the rain drops.

Ally held tightly to the seatbelt stretched across
her chest – so tightly that her knuckles were white. “Jamie, do you
think we should pull over?”

The windshield wipers streaked back and forth across
the glass at top speed, doing little to keep Jamie’s vision clear.
“Do you think we should?”

“Yes, please,” she begged. “Just until it slows down
a little.”

He maneuvered the car over to the shoulder and put it
in park, leaving the engine running so the heat could keep them
toasty and dry. He snatched his phone from the console and flipped
it open. “I can’t even get a signal out here. Can you?”